BLOOD – Part 1

Ada, my sister was often called ‘Sunshine’ – actually, only my father and his trusted friend Adeleye called her that. My mother refused to call her Sunshine and always addressed her by her name ‘Adanna’ meaning the first daughter of her father.

I came exactly a year and five months after Ada, my parents were expecting a boy, they called me ‘Chigozie’ meaning ‘God be praised’. I find it hypocritical, why pretend to be praising God when he had obviously messed up the gift. When three years after my birth, a boy eventually came, my mother was overjoyed and my father named him ‘Ahamefule’ meaning ‘my name should not be lost’. The irony in that name is Ahamefule the bearer of the family name died when he was ten years old, he was knocked over by a hit and run vehicle. My mother never bore any other child afterwards.
Ada was however always my father’s favorite.

I remember Father used to have her sit by him almost every night after she got to Secondary school and read from the newspaper. He always told Mother when tackled, that he was raising a brilliant woman, one who would be both Beauty and Brains.

Ada was truly a beauty – full black hair that grew so beautifully, eyes so small yet pretty, skin so fair it glittered in the sun; she was also intelligent, she could sit at a table with men and talk like she was one of them.
Chief Adeleye  (he was not always a Chief) loved Ada, he was greatly impressed by her. At the end of work, he would buy a big, thick nylon of suya and sit with Father, while we the kids happily ate the suya offered. He would turn his attention to Ada and let her thrill him with topics on politics, arts, literature, nature, whatever.

It is for this reason, I believe Ada cannot keep a man, hence, cannot get married. She is too strong for the male folks, too rigid, too opinionated, she is not submissive. Submissive! Now that I mentioned that, I better tell this story.
A few years ago, my husband and I, hooked Ada with this fine young man who attended our church, they both began a relationship, it was beautiful, or so I thought. They had been together for four months, when I heard the relationship had come to an end. I spoke to Ada, she said nothing, only repeating that she didn’t want to be in the relationship anymore. I spoke to the young man, his story shocked me, they had broken up because he attempted to kiss Ada, she had freaked out, made a huge fuss and ended the relationship.
Afterwards, Ada avoided talking to me, she only calls early in the morning when she is aware I am heading to work and she won’t pick my call when I called at night to talk.
However, two weeks ago , I was making dinner when I got a call from Ada; I was surprised, then afraid, when I put the phone to my ear, it wasn’t Ada, it wasn’t Ada’s voice I heard.
Akin’s screaming and crying voice greeted me on the phone, his words were muffled and very unclear, I had to scream at him to get himself together, still he kept crying and screaming

“Madam dey here, blood – blood everywhere”

‘What happened?’ I asked

“I no know, na so I meet her” he replied.

That was all I needed to get me running out of the house, my husband ran after me, he was not going to leave his wife running around the streets of Lagos at such time of the day without someone to protect her.

When I arrived my father’s house, I flunged the gates open, I saw the area where I am certain my sister had laid in a pool of her own blood, there was however no Ada and no Akin.

‘Akin! Akin! Akin!’

You never know how much you love someone until you are faced with the possibility of losing them,  never  seeing them, never being able to worry or be troubled by them.

I ran to the streets, asking everyone if they had seen my sister, if they had seen Akin, I asked everyone, I ran from house to house, I wasn’t sure where Akin would have taken Ada to, if he knew what to do, where to go, my mind was racing.

“What did Akin mean by blood everywhere?”

“:How did Ada get her blood everywhere on the floor?”

“Maybe it isn’t even Ada’s blood?”

“God, let this be some prank!” “Is this a prank?”

Akin called again, this time he was calmer, he explained where he had taken Ada to and kept repeating that the doctors wanted to see a family member, he kept saying that I should hurry if I did not want Ada to die.
Of course I did not want Ada to die. She was afterall the Ahamefule of the house, the one who still bore my father’s name, the one who still ensured that his name should not be lost.

Of course I wanted Ada to live, she was my sister. She was the one who held my hands through many difficult times, taught me courage, taught me hardwork. Of course I wanted her to live, who would my children call ‘Aunty’, who?

Of course I wanted Ada to live, I loved her, I always have, I always will, regardless of our differences, we are sisters.

It didn’t matter that I hadn’t had dinner, it didn’t matter that a few hours earlier my tummy was churning and all I wanted was food.

All that happened last week.
Today, I have a new fear, last week she was in a pool of her own blood, today she is nowhere to be found.

Who is Ada running away from? What is chasing her?

Thanks for reading today, next episode Sunday August 21st at Noon.

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